BBC incorporated

The British Broadcasting Company was set up in 1922 by six electrical companies who saw a future in ‘wireless’ broadcasting.

The organisation was to be financed by the sale of wireless receiving sets, but revenues proved disappointing because enthusiasts preferred to make their own.

However, the Government – wary of the power of broadcasting – decided to empower the BBC to become the British Broadcasting Corporation with an appointed governing body, a public-service remit, a ban on advertising, and the right to receive the revenue from a 10s licence fee that had to be purchased at post offices. The new corporation was launched on 1 January 1927 with Sir John Reith as its first director general.

Sir John Reith, the BBC’s first director general